Neat link, stales, in that includes words from the man himself (these come after he indicates he has not and will not give answers): songwriters should make their statements and move on, maintaining a dignified silence. --Don McLean, Castine, Maine
Now, I happen to really like this song, and Vincent too (hi, lusy!) which in these two cases mean I also like and have some respect for Don McLean. So I will say that possibly some of his terms are actual references; but I agree with Mr. Adams that the most likely truth for some of them is that they rhyme.
For many other songwriters, and I have to say for artists (painters) too, my personal opinion is that quite often there isn't any "deep" [significant look e] meaning. They just put a bunch of words down that sound good together, because they sound good together. Period. Speaking of periods--I agree with the character Charlene from the old show Designing Women, when she was talking about how supposedly-sophisticated art critics come up with hidden meanings in a painting that consists of a big red dot. She says, "Come on--it's just a big ol' red dot!"
